I represent the first generation whom, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson.
Read the full "Pre-ramble"

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

June 28, 1951

Amos ’n’ Andy moved to CBS-TV from radio.

Amos and Andy began as one of the first radio comedy series, written and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll and originating from station WMAQ in Chicago. After the program was first broadcast in 1928, it grew to become a huge influence on radio series that followed. The show ran as a nightly radio serial from 1928 until 1943, as a weekly situation comedy from 1943 until 1955, and as a nightly disc-jockey program from 1954 until 1960. A television adaptation ran on CBS-TV from 1951 until 1953, and continued in syndicated reruns from 1954 until 1966. The Amos 'n Andy Show was produced from June 1951 to April 1953 with 78 filmed episodes, sponsored by the Blatz Brewing Company. The television series used African-American actors in the main roles, although the actors were instructed to keep their voices and speech patterns as close to Gosden and Correll's as possible. Produced at the Hal Roach Studios for CBS, it was one of the first television series to be filmed with a multicamera setup, four months before the more famous I Love Lucy used the technique. The lighting cameraman (Director of Photography) was Robert de Grasse ASC. The operating cameramen (camera operators) were Robert de Grasse, Lucien Andriot ASC, and Benjamin Kline ASC. The classic theme song was "The Perfect Song." In the TV series, however, the theme became Gaetano Braga's "Angel's Serenade", which sounded similar to "The Perfect Song" (and because it was in the public domain), performed by The Jeff Alexander Chorus. The program went on the air June 28, 1951.

The main roles in the television series were played by the following African-American actors:

This time, the NAACP mounted a formal protest almost as soon as the television version began, and that pressure was considered a primary factor in the video version's cancellation (the sponsor, Blatz Beer, was targeted as well, finally discontinuing their advertising support in June 1953). It has been suggested that CBS erred in its choice of having the program premiere during the NAACP national convention for that year, as the timing may have increased the objections to it. The show was widely repeated in syndicated reruns until 1966 when CBS acquiesced to pressure from the NAACP and the growing civil rights movement and withdrew the program. Until recently, the television show had been released only on bootleg videotape versions, but by 2005, 72 of the 78 known TV episodes were available in bootleg DVD sets.

When the show was cancelled, 65 episodes had been produced. An additional 13 episodes were produced to be added to the syndicated rerun package. These episodes were focused on Kingfish, with little participation from Amos 'n' Andy. This is because these episodes were to be titled The Adventures of Kingfish, but they premiered under the Amos 'n' Andy title instead. The additional episodes first aired on CBS on January 4, 1955. Plans were made for a vaudeville act of the television program in August 1953, with Tim Moore, Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams playing the same roles. It is not known whether there were any performances. Still eager for television success, Gosden, Correll and CBS made initial efforts to give the series another try. The plan was to begin televising Amos 'n' Andy in the fall of 1956, with both of its creators appearing on television in a split screen with the proposed African-American cast.

A group of cast members began a "TV Stars of Amos 'n' Andy" cross-country tour in 1956, which was halted by CBS; the network considered it an infringement of their exclusive rights to the show and its characters. A similar tour had been planned by some cast members in 1953 after cancellation of the series. Following the threatened legal action which brought the 1956 tour to an end, Moore, Childress, Williams and Lee were able to perform like this for at least one night in 1957 in Windsor, Ontario.

In 1978, a one-hour documentary film, Amos 'n' Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy, aired in television syndication (and in later years, on PBS). It told a brief history of the franchise from its radio days to the CBS series, and featured interviews with then-surviving cast members. The film also contained a select complete episode of the classic TV series that had not been seen since it was pulled from the air in 1966.

JULY

July 1, 1941

NBC broadcasts the first TV commercial to be sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC began licensing commercial television stations in May 1941, granting the first license to NBC. During a Dodgers-Phillies game that was broadcast July 1, NBC ran its first commercial. Advertiser Bulova paid $9 to advertise its watches on the air.

Although the first TV license was issued by the Federal Radio Commission (which later became the FCC) in 1928, all licenses were noncommercial until 1941, meaning they were not allowed to sell air time for advertisements or other commercial purposes. However, several stations had already aired advertisements by the time the FCC began issuing commercial licenses.

Although the development of television had been eagerly pursued by radio companies for decades, World War II slowed the development process. Only in the late 1940s did the medium become widespread: Until 1947, no commercial TV stations were licensed west of the Mississippi. Geographically Speaking, the first commercially sponsored TV show, debuted in 1946 with the backing of Bristol-Myers. Many other sponsored shows debuted in the early 1950s.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Actress/director Michelle Danner and music journalist Jason Draper will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, June 27 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with additional airings Tuesday, June 28 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT on Passionate World Radio, Friday, July 1 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, plus Saturday, July 2 following Dodgers baseball and Sunday, July 3 at 2pm PT on KWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, CA).

The founder and artistic director of the Edgemar Center of the Arts in Santa Monica, actress/director Michelle Danner is also one of the most successful and respected acting coaches in Hollywood. Michelle has worked with the likes of Jason Alexander, Chris Rock, Sally Kellerman, Marcia Cross, Seth MacFarlane, Penelope Cruz, James Franco, Salma Hayek, Christian Slater, Zooey Deschanel and other A-list actors. She also recently directed the film adaptation of John Buffalo Mailer’s Hello, Herman, the story of a Columbine-like shooting that also take a hard look at today’s society. We’ll talk about Hello, Herman as well as some of Michelle’s other upcoming projects when she joins us in our second hour.

Also joining us this week will be music journalist Jason Draper, author of Prince: Chaos, Disorder and Revolution, a comprehensive look at the life, career and music of the artist formerly and currently known as Prince. The story of Prince is almost synonymous with the history of MTV, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on television later this summer. We’ll talk about that, as well as the many other ways in which Prince has left his mark in the music and video industry, when Jason Draper joins us in our first hour.

All this, plus new editions of The Sounds of Lost Television and This Week in TV History. Full program as always... we certainly hope you’ll join us.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Peter Falk died at his Beverly Hills home yesterday at the age of 83. The actor had been suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. He was born Peter Michael Falk on September 16, 1927 in New York City, Falk was the son of Michael Peter Falk, owner of a clothing and dry goods store, and his wife, Madeline (née Hockhauser), an accountant and buyer. His family was Jewish, of Polish, Hungarian, Czech, and Russian background. Falk's right eye was surgically removed when he was three because of a retinoblastoma; he wore a glass eye for most of his life.

In 1968 he starred with Gene Barry in a ninety-minute TV pilot about a highly-skilled, laid-back detective. Columbo eventually became part of an anthology series entitled, The NBC Mystery Movie, along with McCloud and McMillan And Wife. The detective series stayed on NBC from 1971–1978, took a respite, and returned occasionally on ABC from 1989–2003. He was "everyone's favorite rumpled television detective", writes historian David Fantle. Describing his role, Variety columnist Howard Prouty writes, "The joy of all this is watching Columbo dissemble the fiendishly clever cover stories of the loathsome rats who consider themselves his better."Born.Falk's first stage appearance was at the age of 12 in The Pirates of Penzance at Camp High Point in upstate New York, where one of his camp counselors was Ross Martin (they would later act together in The Great Race and the Columbo episode "Suitable For Framing"). Falk attended Ossining High School in Westchester County, New York, where he was a star athlete and president of his senior class. After graduating from high school in 1945, Falk briefly attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, and then tried to join the armed services as World War II was drawing to a close. Rejected because of his glass eye, he joined the United States Merchant Marine, and served as a cook and mess boy. "There they don't care if you're blind or not", Falk said in 1997. "The only one on a ship who has to see is the captain. And in the case of the Titanic, he couldn't see very well, either."

After a year and a half in the Merchant Marine, Falk returned to Hamilton College and also attended the University of Wisconsin. He transferred to the New School for Social Research in New York City, which awarded him a bachelor's degree in literature and political science in 1951. He then traveled in Europe and worked on a railroad in Yugoslavia for six months. He returned to New York, enrolling at Syracuse University, but he recalled in his 2006 memoir Just One More Thing that he was unsure what he wanted to do with his life for years after leaving high school.

Falk obtained a Master of Public Administration degree at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University in 1953. The program was designed to train civil servants for the federal government, a career that Falk said in his memoir that he had "no interest in and no aptitude for."He applied for a job with the CIA, but was rejected because of his membership in the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union while serving in the Merchant Marine, even though he was required to join and was not active in the union. He then became a management analyst with the Connecticut State Budget Bureau in Hartford. Falk characterized his Hartford job as "efficiency expert". "I was such an efficiency expert that the first morning on the job, I couldn't find the building where I was to report for work", he said in 1997. "Naturally, I was late, which I always was in those days, but ironically it was my tendency never to be on time that got me started as a professional actor."

Falk stayed with the Le Gallienne group for a few months more, and obtained a letter of recommendation from Le Galliene to an agent at the William Morris Agency in New York. In 1956, he left his job with the Budget Bureau and moved to Greenwich Village to pursue an acting career.

His first New York stage role was in an Off-Broadway production of Molière's Dom Juan at the Fourth Street Theatre that closed after its only performance on January 3, 1956. Falk played the second lead, Sganarelle. His next theater role proved far better for his career. In May he appeared at Circle in the Square in a revival of The Iceman Cometh with Jason Robards, playing the bartender.

Despite his stage success, a theatrical agent advised Falk not to expect much film work because of his glass eye. He failed a screen test at Columbia Pictures and was told by studio boss Harry Cohn that "for the same price I can get an actor with two eyes." He also failed to get a role in the film Marjorie Morningstar despite a promising interview for the second lead. His first film performances were in small roles in Wind Across the Everglades (1958), The Bloody Brood (1959) and Pretty Boy Floyd (1960).

The film turned out to be Falk's breakout role. In his 2006 autobiography, Just One More Thing, Falk said that his selection for the film from thousands of other Off-Broadway actors was a "miracle" that "made my career", and that without it he would not have gotten the other significant movie roles that he later played. Falk, who played Reles again in the 1960 TV series The Witness, was nominated for a Best Supporting ActorAcademy Award for his performance in the film.

For his part, Falk says that he "never worked with a director who showed greater enjoyment of actors and the acting craft." Falk says, "There is nothing more important to an actor than to know that the one person who represents the audience to you, the director, is responding well to what you are trying to do." Falk recalled one time that Capra reshot a scene even though he yelled "Cut and Print", indicating the scene was finalized. When Falk asked him why he wanted it reshot, "he laughed and said that he loved the scene so much he just wanted to see us do it again. How's that for support!"

Falk's first television series was in the title role of the drama The Trials of O'Brien, in which he played a lawyer. The show ran in 1965 and 1966 and was cancelled after 22 episodes.

In 1971, Pierre Cossette produced the first Grammy Awards show on television with some help from Falk. Cossette writes in his autobiography, "What meant the most to me, though, is the fact that Peter Falk saved my ass. I love show business, and I love Peter Falk."

Although Falk appeared in numerous other television roles in the 1960s and 1970s, he is best known as the star of the TV series Columbo, "everyone's favorite rumpled television detective", writes historian David Fantle. His character was a shabby and ostensibly absent-minded police detective lieutenant, who had first appeared in the 1968 film Prescription: Murder. Falk described his role to Fantle:

"Columbo has a genuine mistiness about him. It seems to hang in the air . . . [and] he's capable of being distracted. . . . Columbo is an ass-backwards Sherlock Holmes. Holmes had a long neck, Columbo has no neck; Holmes smoked a pipe, Columbo chews up six cigars a day."

Television critic Ben Falk adds that Falk "created an iconic cop . . . who always got his man (or woman) after a tortuous cat-and-mouse investigation." He notes also that the idea for the character was "apparently inspired by Dostoyevsky's dogged police inspector, Porfiry Petrovich, in the novel Crime and Punishment.

Falk tries to analyze the character and notes the correlation between his own personality and Columbo's:"'m a Virgo Jew, and that means I have an obsessive thoroughness. It's not enough to get most of the details, it's necessary to get them all. I've been accused of perfectionism. When Lew Wasserman (head of Universal Studios) said that Falk is a perfectionist, I don't know whether it was out of affection or because he felt I was a monumental pain in the ass."

With "general amazement", Falk notes that "the show is all over the world". He added, "I've been to little villages in Africa with maybe one TV set, and little kids will run up to me shouting, 'Columbo, Columbo!'" Singer Johnny Cash recalled acting in one episode, and although he was not an experienced actor, he writes in his autobiography, "Peter Falk was good to me. I wasn't at all confident about handling a dramatic role, and every day he helped me in all kinds of little ways."

The debut episode in 1971 was directed by 25-year-old Steven Spielberg in one of his earliest directing roles. Falk recalled the episode to Spielberg biographer Joseph McBride:

"Let's face it, we had some good fortune at the beginning. Our debut episode, in 1971, was directed by this young kid named Steven Spielberg. I told the producers, Link and Levinson, This guy is too good for Columbo. . . . Steven was shooting me with a long lens from across the street. That wasn't common twenty years ago. The comfort level it gave me as an actor, besides its great look artistically—well, it told you that this wasn't any ordinary director."

The character of Columbo had previously been played by Bert Freed in a single TV episode and by Thomas Mitchell on Broadway. Falk first played Columbo in Prescription: Murder, a 1968 TV-movie, and from 1971 to 1978 Columbo aired regularly on NBC as part of the umbrella seriesNBC Mystery Movie. All episodes were of TV-movie length, in a 90 or 120 minutes slot including commercials. The show returned on ABC in the form of a less frequent series of TV-movies, still starring Falk, from 1989 until 2003.

Falk was a close friend of independent film director John Cassavetes and appeared in Cassavetes' films Husbands, A Woman Under the Influence, and, in a cameo, at the end of Opening Night. Cassavetes, in turn, guest-starred in the Columbo episode "Étude in Black" in 1972. Falk describes his experiences working with Cassavetes, and specifically remembers his directing strategies such as "shooting an actor when he might be unaware the camera was running."

"You never knew when the camera might be going. And it was never: 'Stop. Cut. Start again.' John would walk in the middle of a scene and talk, and though you didn't realize it, the camera kept going. So I never knew what the hell he was doing. [Laughs] But he ultimately made me, and I think every actor, less self-conscious, less aware of the camera than anybody I've ever worked with.

Falk continued to work in films, including his performance as a questionable ex-CIA agent of dubious sanity in the comedy The In-Laws. Director Arthur Hiller said during an interview that the "film started out because Alan Arkin and Peter Falk wanted to work together. They went to Warner's and said, 'We'd like to do a picture,' and Warner's said fine . . . and out came The In-laws. . . . of all the films I've done, The In-laws is the one I get the most comments on."

To quote Peter Falk, "If your mind is at work, we're in danger of reproducing another cliche. If we can keep our minds out of it and our thoughts out of it, maybe we'll come up with something original".

Actor, comedian and voiceover artist Hank Garrett and television historian Jim Benson will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, June 20 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with additional airings Tuesday, June 21 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT on Passionate World Radio, Friday, June 24 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, and Saturday, June 25 at 8pm PT on KWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, CA).

Most people live one life. Others, such as Hank Garrett, are fortunate to have lived many lives in the span of his long, successful career. Born in New York’s Big Apple and raised in Harlem, Hank achieved one of his first dreams by becoming a championship power lifter and bodybuilder, then enjoyed a career as a famous wrestler known as "The Minnesota Farm Boy" (which is interesting, since Hank had never been out of New York at the time!). After five years of slamming into canvasses, Hank realized that comedy would be less hazardous to his health, so he made his way to the New York Catskill Mountains, where the likes of Buddy Hackett had become famous doing stand-up comedy.

After working with such stars as Della Reese, Jerry Vale and Tony Bennett, Hank was discovered one night by writer/producer Nat Hiken (The Phil Silvers Show), who soon cast him as Officer Ed Nicholson on Car 54, Where Are You? The success of Car 54 helped Hank launch a successful acting career, which has included such film and TV credits as The Producers, Serpico, Three Days of the Condor, The Boys Next Door and Paris, as well as voiceover work on such animated series as Garfield and G.I. Joe. We’ll talk about Hank’s work with Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Joe E. Ross and Nat Hiken on Car 54, as well as his work with such legends as Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Sydney Pollack, James Earl Jones and Robert Redford, when Hank Garrett joins us in our second hour.

(The first season of Car 54, Where Are You? is now available on DVD. If you order Season One directly through Hank, he will autograph it for you, and all proceeds will benefit disabled veterans. It’s a great way to help those who have served our country, as you enjoy one of TV’s great comedies.)

This week’s show will also look back at the life and career of Emmy Award-winning writer, producer and director Leonard Stern, who died this past June 7 at the age of 88. Though mostly remembered for producing the long-running NBC comedy series Get Smart starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon, Leonard Stern also left his mark in television and publishing in many other ways. He wrote for Jackie Gleason, Steve Allen and Phil Silvers; co-created the best-selling Mad Libs word-game books; and produced and created such popular and/or acclaimed series as He and She, The Good Guys, I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster, The Snoop Sisters and McMillan and Wife.

Joining us in our tribute to Leonard Stern will be radio host, TV historian and producer Jim Benson. Jim not only worked closely with Leonard Stern on one of his final projects (the pending DVD release of I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster), but got to know Leonard very well as a friend over the last seven years. Jim Benson will join us in our first hour.

As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.

Jun 22, 2008

Stand-up comedian, writer and actor George Carlin dies of heart failure at the age of 71.

Born in New York City, Carlin dropped out of high school and joined the Air Force. While stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana, he got a job as a radio disc jockey; after his discharge, he worked as a radio announcer and disc jockey in Boston and Fort Worth, Texas. Carlin and his early radio colleague, Jack Burns, formed a moderately successful stand-up comedy duo, appearing in nightclubs and on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. They soon parted ways, and Carlin made his first solo appearance on The Tonight Show in 1962. Three years later, he began a string of performances on The Merv Griffin Show and was later hired as a regular on Away We Go, 1967’s summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show. Carlin cemented his early career success with the release of his debut comedy album, the well-reviewed Take-Offs and Put-Downs, that same year.

During the late 1960s, Carlin had a recurring role on the sitcom That Girl, starring Marlo Thomas, and made numerous TV appearances on shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. Seeking to make a leap into big-time stardom, the relatively clean-cut, conventional comic reinvented himself around 1970 as an eccentric, biting social critic and commentator. In his new incarnation, Carlin began appealing to a younger, hipper audience, particularly college students. He began dressing in a stereotypically “hippie” style, with a beard, long hair and jeans, and his new routines were punctuated by pointed jokes about religion and politics and frequent references to drugs.

Released in 1972, Carlin’s second album, FM/AM, won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording. A routine from his third hit album, Class Clown (also 1972) grew into the comic’s now-famous profanity-laced routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” When it was first broadcast on New York radio, a complaint led the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ban the broadcast as “indecent.” The U.S. Supreme Court later upheld the order, which remains in effect today. The routine made Carlin a hero to his fans and got him in trouble with radio brass as well as with law enforcement; he was even arrested several times, once during an appearance in Milwaukee, for violating obscenity laws.

More popular than ever as a countercultural hero, Carlin was asked to be the first guest host of a new sketch comedy show, Saturday Night Live, in 1975. Two years later, he starred in the first of what would be 14 comedy specials on the cable television station HBO (the last one aired in March 2008). Carlin had a certain degree of success on the big screen as well, including a supporting role in Outrageous Fortune (1987), a memorable appearance in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) and a fine supporting turn in the drama The Prince of Tides (1991). More recently, he played a Roman Catholic cardinal in Kevin Smith’s satirical comedy Dogma (1999).

Though a 1994 Fox sitcom, The George Carlin Show, lasted only one season, Carlin continued to perform his HBO specials and his live comedy gigs into the early 21st century. He also wrote best-selling books based on his comedy routines, including Brain Droppings (1997), Napalm & Silly Putty (2001) and When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? (2004). According to his obituary in the New York Times, Carlin gave his last live comedy show in Las Vegas just weeks before his death.

June 24, 1987

Jackie Gleason dies. Actor Jackie Gleason dies on this day in 1987.

Raised by a single mother who worked at a subway token booth in New York, Gleason dropped out of high school and began performing on the vaudeville circuit in his teens. Signed to a movie contract by the time he was 24 years old, Gleason played character roles in a handful of movies in 1941 and 1942, but found much more success in television. He became one of TV's most popular stars in a number of shows, including The Jackie Gleason Show, which ran throughout most of the 1950s and '60s. On the show, he created the character of Ralph Kramden, a bus driver who became the beloved star of the spin-off television show The Honeymooners.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.

June is also a time for Graduations.In Happy Days Season 4, Episode 18 GraduationThe boys come can't find a bar mitzvah party where they are supposed to play. The address is locked in Ralph's car in his glove compartment at Fonzie's garage. Marion has some confidential information about where Fonzie has been every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and that he will be home at 9:30 p.m. The guys finally get the information from Marion who says that Fonzie has been going to night school at Jefferson High. Joanie has heard the news about Fonzie from Jenny Piccalo, and Marion becomes worried that Fonzie will be angry with her for telling. He ignores Marion (who is a chaperone with Howard) because she told about him attending night school. Fonzie makes the announcement that he is joining everyone as a graduating senior. Howard talks to Fonzie about the good things Marion does for him. Fonzie and Marion make up. They dance. Vice-Principal Conners makes an announcement that everyone has failed a health exam. Nobody can graduate unless they pass a make-up exam scheduled for 8:30 the next morning. Everyone leaves to study. Al sings "Goodnight Sweetheart" as the last dance of the prom.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

First hour: Tony Figueroa and Donna Allen join Ed for a round-table discussion of such topics as Oprah Winfrey’s final broadcastand some surprising cancellations among prime time network shows, including Outsourced and Law and Order: Los Angeles. Second hour: Ed welcomes filmmakers Jim Pasternak and Richard Marshall, the director and producer, respectively, of Certifiably Jonathan, a unique comedy/documentary that provides a window into the brilliant mind of comedy legend Jonathan Winters. Also in this hour: highlights from a 2008 interview that Winters gave to Phil Gries in which he discussed some of his early TV appearances, including Omnibus and And Here’s The Show, the origins of his famous character Maude Frickett, and his thoughts on such legends as Groucho Marx, Shelley Berman, Sid Caesar and Dean Martin.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Singer, producer and television writer Deborah Pearl and author Douglas Brode will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, June 13 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with additional airings Tuesday, June 14 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm PT on Passionate World Radio, Friday, June 17 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, and Saturday, June 18 following Dodgers baseball on KWDJ 1360-AM (Ridgecrest, CA).

Known affectionately as “The King” long before Elvis Presley, Benny Carter’s career as a composer, arranger, saxophonist and bandleader spanned an astonishing eight decades. We’ll talk about that, and more, when Deborah Pearl joins us in our second hour.

In the world of television, Gunsmoke ranks among the greatest Westerns of all time, and its star, James Arness, among TV’s biggest stars. We’ll pay tribute to Arness and the legacy of Gunsmoke when Doug joins us in our first hour.

About Us

TONY FIGUEROA is a standup comedian, writer, actor and storyteller based in Los Angeles. In his spare time Tony can be found story telling at the Story Salon in North Hollywood (Tony is also one of the producers) and of course watching TV. Tony is also a contributor to TV CONFIDENTIAL.
DONNA ALLEN-FIGUEROA always knew that she wanted to act. Donna’s professional credits include principle roles on the soaps DAYS OF OUR LIVES and GENERAL HOSPITAL. She guest starred with Robert Guillaume on ROBERT GUILLAUME SHOW. Donna also lends her voice to many animated characters, and has appeared in several television commercials. Theater credits include several LA productions (including readers and Radio Theater), and a season with Chicago’s famed Free Street Theater. Donna is a chronic shopper always in search of the ultimate bargain.